Masked arsonists set Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne ablaze in pre-dawn attack

The fire was at the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne. Photo / Getty Images

Masked arsonists set a synagogue ablaze in a pre-dawn attack in the Australian city of Melbourne, police said, sparking condemnation by the Prime Minister.

The fire broke out at 4.10am (1710 GMT) today in the Adass Israel synagogue when some congregants were already present, police said, gutting much of the building’s interior in the southeast Melbourne suburb of Ripponlea.

No serious injuries were reported.

A witness entering the synagogue for morning prayers saw “two individuals wearing masks”, Detective Inspector Chris Murray of the Victorian police arson and explosive squad told reporters.

“They appeared to be spreading an accelerant of some type in the premises,” he said.

The synagogue was “engulfed in flames”, he added.

“We believe it was deliberate. We believe it has been targeted. What we don’t know is why?.”

Police will increase patrols and do their utmost to catch the arsonists, who were described as wearing dark clothing, he said.

Detectives would be looking at CCTV footage and interviewing any witnesses, Murray said.

Television images showed firefighters hosing down the embers through the door after the blaze.

A board member of the synagogue, Benjamin Klein, said a few congregants were sitting and praying inside when the fire started.

“They heard loud banging,” Klein told AFP.

Liquid was poured inside the synagogue and set alight, he said.

“If this had happened an hour later, there would have been hundreds of people inside,” Klein said.

The congregants “ran out the back of the synagogue. One man who ran out – his hand got burnt,” he said.

“The fire was extensive,” he told AFP.

“Inside is completely gutted.”

Holy books and furniture had been destroyed, he said, vowing however that the community would “rebuild”.

Klein said the synagogue had increased security over the past 12 months amid safety concerns, without giving further details.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he “unequivocally” condemned the incident.

“This violence and intimidation and destruction at a place of worship is an outrage,” Albanese said in a statement.

“This attack has risked lives and is clearly aimed at creating fear in the community.”

The Prime Minister said he had “zero tolerance” for anti-Semitism.

“It has absolutely no place in Australia.”

Australian federal police will assist Victoria in the investigation, he said.

“This deliberate, unlawful attack goes against everything we are as Australians and everything we have worked so hard to build as a nation.”

The war in Gaza has sparked protests from supporters of Israel and Palestinians in cities around Australia, as in much of the world.

In 1995, the synagogue was damaged by a deliberately lit fire, with walls and Torah scrolls burned.

Klein, who was a child at the time, said he remembered standing inside the damaged synagogue with his grandfather, who he said was a Holocaust survivor.

-Agence France-Presse